Reviews tagged skin care

Finding hand lotion that works is probably not high on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It actually seems frivolous in light of the images of suffering and destruction we’ve recently seen from Haiti and Chile. While I recognize that earthquakes aren’t caused by global warming, lately I find myself balancing my own petty concerns against scientists’ gloomy predictions of climate refugees becoming a real problem if this issue isn’t addressed.

Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental hazards in India. Caused largely by vehicles with aged diesel engines and industrial emissions, the same technology that is moving the country forward in the global economy is moving people backward in terms of individuals’ health. Half of the children in Bangalore are now afflicted with asthma, and Kolkata has the highest number of cases of lung cancer in the world.

My paternal grandmother was the offspring of a French immigrant family that emigrated to the United States. She came of age during a time of great extravagance (Roaring Twenties) followed by a sharp decline (Great Depression) and then raised five children—three boys and two girls—by herself in St. Louis, Missouri while my grandfather reported for duty during World War II. In my grandparents' house there were two bathrooms, one pink and the other blue, a color-coded system marked by a form of gender segregation that had a utilitarian function in the large and evenly split household.

My skin is dry. How dry is it? It's so dry that it makes the Kalahari look like the Everglades. It's so dry, that it makes the Gobi look like the Ganges. It's so dry, that I'm going to be flayed for Sham-wows. The lizard-leather shins and cracked elbows do not appeal. What to do?
Thank goodness I discovered Organic Apoteke products. The Rejuvenating Face Cream and Active Face Hydrating Gel samples did not allow evaluation of the results of extended use, but were not unpleasant after a single application.

Founded in 1976 in the small Provençal town of Manosque by Olivier Baussan, L'Occitane grew from his individual distillation of rosemary to its essential oil into an international organization offering an array of skin care and beauty products. The company partners with three women's cooperatives in Burkina Faso to obtain fairly-traded shea nut butter.

The pomegranate has a long history as a helping, healthy fruit. No less an authority than the (seventeenth century) Dr. Fothergill described as it among the plant species “most salutiferous to mankind.” Queen Hatshepsut's butler, Djehuty, attempted to pack one along in his journey to the afterlife. Its red, leathery hide, floral ends, and core of pulp-encased juicy purple kernels fascinated me as a child, although it struck me as a bit labor-intensive for a snack. I had no objection to grenadine in Shirley Temples at the same age.

Half a million women in the world die every year from breast cancer. One in eight American women will be diagnosed with some form of breast cancer in her lifetime. Judging from these startling statistics, it’s not difficult to see why corporations that cater to women have begun creating lines of products that support the fight against this disease.

When you unwrap a package made, wrapped, and tied by another person’s hands, it’s immediately evident. It might be a splatter of color where there wasn’t one intended, or a crooked label, a smudge. But whatever the indication, it has always given me a moment’s pause and endeared me in a special way to whatever it is I’m holding. So it was with Norma’s Bath and Body Products—a sense of the person who’d put something of herself into making the thing I was about to enjoy.

“The essential foundation of beauty is health.” - Dr. Alkaitis
Sociobiology makes me cringe. The realities of economics and aesthetics are frequently politically uncomfortable. There appear to be some basic principles that all humans operate by—for example, that everyone likes money and beauty. Money is intrinsically meaningless and worthless: a bale of Benjamins won't do you much good in the middle of Antarctica except as tinder. Pot shards, metal disks, cocoa beans—all have done service as manifestations of worth, tokens of sweat and time.

Garden Botanika is a twenty-year old company with a mission of “creating products that are: botanically based, a careful blend of nature and science, cruelty-free, gentle to the environment and 100% guaranteed.” But age is just a number...we shouldn't make light of their efforts despite their relatively recent origin.

Everyone's gone "green," but some have been doing it earlier than others. Dr. Hauschka Skin Care has provided holistic skin products for over four decades, and the original Dr. Hauschka was a Viennese chemist who sought to manufacture naturally healthy potions as early as the establishment of his laboratory in 1935. He used rose petals, and WALA Heilmittel (WALA is an acronym of warmth, air, light and ash, and "heilmittel" means "remedy") utilizes organic plant substances to this day. Apparently the plant of the month is the birch.

Dry knuckles? Ashy hands and elbows? Tried every lotion on the shelf? You need Prairieland Herbs' 3 Citrus Whipped Shea Butter. When I opened the little tin tub (which can be reused for multiple purposes), I was taken aback; it actually look like whipped butter! I had to resist sticking my finger in and giving it a lick. Compared to more solid shea butter, this is very gentle and airy—easy to spread and rub in.
As soon as I could, I put it to the test. My knuckles stayed moisturized throughout my daily routine much longer than conventional lotions.

Who would have thought that facial toner would be the next new application for aroma therapy? The fresh scent of this toner will have both you and your skin feeling divinely invigorated. Suki says white willow is the holistic anti-inflammatory for every type of skin. Simply mist the toner onto your face after cleansing. It’s also been proven to treat poison ivy. Imagine that. Rose petal, chamomile, calendula and tea tree infusion, extracts of white willow, comfrey and rose...

The butter cream salve by Suki promises to relieve dry skin with natural ingredients and prevent further damage. They tout it working on everything from dry elbows to eczema and stretch marks. As I have no dry elbows, my eczema is currently under control and I lack stretch marks, I’m basing my review of this product on how well it healed my dry hands after working in a coffee shop all night.
The salve works like ointment, and has a medicinal, greasy feel to it – much like Neosporin.

I am on a constant quest for new and improved beauty products. To me, a new lipstick or hand lotion are one of life's little pleasures. Not only do I enjoy using them, but it's a small fantasy fulfillment as well. Realistically, I know that a new hair product will not make me a supermodel, but I humor myself anyway; and the end result is that I feel glamorous, so it's a moot point.
One frequently used tool in my beauty arsenal is facial moisturizer, so I was looking forward to testing out this product.

Although I am blessed with a complexion that is normally clear, in the past few months I've had some trouble with blemishing. I've tried anti-pimple potions before, though I steer away from most of them due to the harsh chemical content, as my skin is somewhat sensitive. I was interested to try Suki's facial serum, since it's made from all-natural ingredients and would, theoretically, be gentler on my skin.
The primary ingredient is Jojoba oil, so it has a somewhat greasy consistency.

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